Preliminary Analysis: On a night full of returns and premieres, ABC managed to top the night with the debut of 'Celebrity Wheel of Fortune' (1.1). Although 'Wheel' was well behind where 'Jeopardy! The Greatest of All-Time' (2.4) began last January, it was the only show of the night to cross the 1.0 rating threshold. Hosted by 'Jeopardy' alumni, 'The Chase' (0.9) got off to a stellar start right after, retaining more than 80% of the audience that came before it. But the real surprise came at 10pm when 'The Hustler' (0.7) grew two-tenths from Monday's lackluster preview. Over on NBC, Ted Danson comedy 'Mr. Mayor' (0.6/0.5) opened in acceptable territory for its 1-hour premiere. While it was on-par with recent installments of 'Superstore', it will have to avoid falling any further to strengthen its chances of renewal. 'Law & Order: SVU' (0.6) held even with its fall finale in the 9pm hour and led into a low-rated installment of 'Dateline' (0.3).
Fox's 'Hell's Kitchen' (0.7) returned for a new season after nearly two years off the air, two-tenths below its previous season debut (0.9) in September 2018 but only a tenth lower than its February 2019 finale (0.8). The Gordon Ramsay staple led into the timeslot debuts of 'Call Me Kat' (0.6) and 'Last Man Standing' (0.5). 'Kat' shed eight-tenths from Sunday's NFL-boosted premiere (1.4) while 'Last Man' was able to tie its Sunday return. CBS went with repeats of 'Young Sheldon' (0.6), 'B Positive' (0.4), 'Mom' (0.4), 'The Unicorn' (0.3), and 'Star Trek: Discovery' (0.2). Many of these encores came within a tenth of the last original episodes these programs aired. The CW had an iHeartRadio Music Festival' (0.1) but forgot to send out the invitations.
Finals Update: 'Celebrity Wheel of Fortune' (1.2, +0.1), 'Hell's Kitchen' (0.8, +0.1), 'The Chase' (1.0, +0.1), 'Call Me Kat' (0.7, +0.1), and 'Last Man Standing' (0.6, +0.1) all adjusted up.
(P) = premiere
(R) = repeat
